are", He asked, waving a pile of cards. No, it was a deck of cards.
"They are playing cards", I answered, seriously. Beside me, Kate smiled in her sleep. Maybe she was having a happy dream. Maybe she was dreaming about stars.
"Yes smarty, and I'm willing to teach you a trick that Kate's been pestering me for. It's a magic trick", he winked, and I giggled.
"But you have to take a magician's oath and promise not to tell a soul."
I nodded and repeated the oath.
"Now, you pick a card of your choice, have a peek, then return the card face down, but do not show me the card. I'll shuffle the deck, and tell you which card you chose."
He smiled at me again. I smiled back.
"So, shall we begin?"
I picked a card and took a peek. It was a black card with a leaf facing upside down and '4' printed on the top right Then I gave it back to Nicholas and didn't tell him what it was. How could he know which card I picked? I thought, then watched his clever fingers juggle them, in fasation, facination, fasination...?
"And your card is.... 4 of spades", he announced and I stared and stared at him.
He had picked the right card. I clapped my hands when he took a bow.
I spent the next few minutes learning the magic trick. I did it wrong several times, but Nicholas righted me. I did it right after the eleventieth time.
And I didn't miss mama anymore.
Elizabeth chronicles - August 1999
This diary is the property of Elizabeth Whitfield
8. The Sunday dance
The Sunday dance, as anticipated, is a royal affair.
We are seated at the great hall, listening to the mayor’s endless speech about the city’s recent developments and accomplishments, and though he is trying his best to pep up the milieu by throwing in abstract innuendoes and ill-timed jokes, he doesn't quite manage it. If the glossy haze of our eyes were any indication, we had gone past comatose and were fast approaching suspended animation.
I've been keeping tabs on the stupefied expressions around me, behind me, and in front of me, and I have to say, I feel a strange sense of comradeship with them. Especially with the couple seated 2 rows ahead, snoring loud enough to wake the dead. The mayor, however, decides to ignore the subtle hints and keeps on with the banter.
Those of us who aren’t dozing, are thinking of the sumptuous feast, (I had managed to catch a glimpse), the only attraction of tonight’s itinerary.
My parents have not yet arrived. Dad had come up with a last minute errand, only now, it looks like a last minute reprieve. I wonder whether dad had invented the chore on purpose to escape the ennui.
“Nicholas, wake up Nicholas”, Drew nudges me awake a full 20 minutes later.
So, I had managed to nap after all. Judicious use of time to my thinking.
“Just when did he shut up?”
“He’s about to, look he is about to invite the congressmen to inaugurate the ceremony and begin the dance.”
"Why can't they be taken to the buffet first", cries a young girl of about ten, seated behind me. I grin in complete accord and wink at her. She giggles shyly.
“Come on Nick, you’re my only hope for the evening. You have my first dance”, Drew whines, shaking my arms with fresh fervor.
“And all of Emma’s apparently.”
At least that's what Emma keeps repeating. The girl has all the subtlety of a belching whale.
"Why don't you ladies sort it out, then let me know", I smirk teasingly, wiggling my eyebrows like a lecher, Hollywood-style.
The lady in question just glares at me, pulling and dragging me to the dance floor while she's at it.
I give in eventually, and pull her in for a dance, but I can't seem to be able to focus. Something keeps distracting me, like a faint buzz in the back of my mind.
"Stop searching for her, she isn't coming",
"They are playing cards", I answered, seriously. Beside me, Kate smiled in her sleep. Maybe she was having a happy dream. Maybe she was dreaming about stars.
"Yes smarty, and I'm willing to teach you a trick that Kate's been pestering me for. It's a magic trick", he winked, and I giggled.
"But you have to take a magician's oath and promise not to tell a soul."
I nodded and repeated the oath.
"Now, you pick a card of your choice, have a peek, then return the card face down, but do not show me the card. I'll shuffle the deck, and tell you which card you chose."
He smiled at me again. I smiled back.
"So, shall we begin?"
I picked a card and took a peek. It was a black card with a leaf facing upside down and '4' printed on the top right Then I gave it back to Nicholas and didn't tell him what it was. How could he know which card I picked? I thought, then watched his clever fingers juggle them, in fasation, facination, fasination...?
"And your card is.... 4 of spades", he announced and I stared and stared at him.
He had picked the right card. I clapped my hands when he took a bow.
I spent the next few minutes learning the magic trick. I did it wrong several times, but Nicholas righted me. I did it right after the eleventieth time.
And I didn't miss mama anymore.
Elizabeth chronicles - August 1999
This diary is the property of Elizabeth Whitfield
8. The Sunday dance
The Sunday dance, as anticipated, is a royal affair.
We are seated at the great hall, listening to the mayor’s endless speech about the city’s recent developments and accomplishments, and though he is trying his best to pep up the milieu by throwing in abstract innuendoes and ill-timed jokes, he doesn't quite manage it. If the glossy haze of our eyes were any indication, we had gone past comatose and were fast approaching suspended animation.
I've been keeping tabs on the stupefied expressions around me, behind me, and in front of me, and I have to say, I feel a strange sense of comradeship with them. Especially with the couple seated 2 rows ahead, snoring loud enough to wake the dead. The mayor, however, decides to ignore the subtle hints and keeps on with the banter.
Those of us who aren’t dozing, are thinking of the sumptuous feast, (I had managed to catch a glimpse), the only attraction of tonight’s itinerary.
My parents have not yet arrived. Dad had come up with a last minute errand, only now, it looks like a last minute reprieve. I wonder whether dad had invented the chore on purpose to escape the ennui.
“Nicholas, wake up Nicholas”, Drew nudges me awake a full 20 minutes later.
So, I had managed to nap after all. Judicious use of time to my thinking.
“Just when did he shut up?”
“He’s about to, look he is about to invite the congressmen to inaugurate the ceremony and begin the dance.”
"Why can't they be taken to the buffet first", cries a young girl of about ten, seated behind me. I grin in complete accord and wink at her. She giggles shyly.
“Come on Nick, you’re my only hope for the evening. You have my first dance”, Drew whines, shaking my arms with fresh fervor.
“And all of Emma’s apparently.”
At least that's what Emma keeps repeating. The girl has all the subtlety of a belching whale.
"Why don't you ladies sort it out, then let me know", I smirk teasingly, wiggling my eyebrows like a lecher, Hollywood-style.
The lady in question just glares at me, pulling and dragging me to the dance floor while she's at it.
I give in eventually, and pull her in for a dance, but I can't seem to be able to focus. Something keeps distracting me, like a faint buzz in the back of my mind.
"Stop searching for her, she isn't coming",
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